Kehaulani Folau (she/they/ia) is a queer Madau-Moana (Pohnpeian-Tongan) scholar-practitioner born and raised in Soónkahni (Salt Lake Valley) on the traditional and ancestral home of the Newe (Sosogoi/Shoshone; Kusiutta/Goshute), Núuchi-u (Yuuta’/Ute), and Nuwuvi (Paiute) peoples. Her scholarship and research draw from the epistemologies and pedagogies of Indigenous peoples of the Pacific, and utilize culturally relevant method/ologies such as koasoai/talanoa (Pohnpeian/Tongan for talk story), iroir (Pohnpeian for reflection), and hohoko (Tongan for genealogy) in her work. Kehau is currently a postdoctoral fellow for the Research Collaborative for Higher Education in Prison at the University of Utah, where she also earned her Ph.D. in Education, Culture and Society, M.Ed in Educational Leadership and Policy, and B.S. in Ethnic Studies. Her hobbies include cuddling with her fur-baby, Havok (Cane Corso) and enjoying her partner, Lilly’s cooking.
PROFILE
Position: Postdoctoral Fellow
Organization: Research Collaborative on Higher Education in Prison, University of Utah
Contact: kehaulani.folau@utah.edu
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kfolau/
AREAS OF FOCUS
- Education
- Indigenous Values
- Traditional Wayfinding
- Women’s Rights
LANGUAGE
Pohnpeian